Bernadette is a member of the group DIEU AIDE NOUS (1) and is the leader of a group consisting of eight other micro-entrepreneurs from Brazzaville, Congo. A single mother of three children, Bernadette sells foufou, a local dish, and hot food that she grills on the spot. Now on her third loan cycle with HOPE Congo, Bernadette plans on using her loan to buy more bags of foufou and chicken thighs to prepare and sell. In the future she hopes to start her own butcher’s shop and an embroidery business as well. Bernadette dreams of being able to save up enough money to take her family on a vacation and to build her own house.

Additional Information

More information about this loan

Important Information

About HOPE Congo S.A.: HOPE Congo S.A. is a start-up microfinance institution located in Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo. As of 2009, the Republic of the Congo was the 136th-ranked country in the United Nations Development Programme’s Human Development Index. The average life expectancy is in the low 50s and food insecurity poses a constant threat to ordinary people’s well-being. Through the creation of community banks, HOPE Congo provides credit, savings, and training for entrepreneurs in Brazzaville. With their services, they aim to nourish a culture of saving and an independent community of responsible and self-sustaining entrepreneurs.

This is a Group Loan

In a group loan, each member of the group receives an individual loan but is part of a larger group of individuals. The group is there to provide support to the members and to provide a system of peer pressure, but groups may or may not be formally bound by a group guarantee. In cases where there is a group guarantee, members of the group are responsible for paying back the loans of their fellow group members in the case of delinquency or default.

Kiva's Field Partners typically feature one borrower from a group. The loan description, sector, and other attributes for a group loan profile are determined by the featured borrower's loan. The other members of the group are not required to use their loans for the same purpose.